But the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 athletes, including two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva, have taken their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

The Olympics Games start on 5 August.

Russia was suspended from global track and field events by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November 2015.

That followed the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that showed a culture of widespread, state-sponsored doping, with even the secret services involved.

The country's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has since apologised for the fact cheating athletes were not caught by Russia's anti-doping systems but stopped short of admitting the scandal had been state-sponsored.

Should Russia's athletics federation remain banned, the IAAF has said a handful of the country's athletes could compete in Rio as "neutrals" if they meet a number of criteria, including being repeatedly tested outside their homeland.

However, there have been calls for the country to be given a total ban from the Olympics and Paralympics following the publication of the McLaren report, foreign media reports.